Manure spreader



s. B. HENDRlcKs -E-r AL 2,094,572

sept. 2s, 1937.

MANURE SPREADERv Filed July 8. 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet lUnuunnunnnnnnnhnnnuuunnun-nnuuunnn..nuunnnnnnuuunnuuunuu. I

hunmknnnnnnununuunuuuuuuuuunu l ITT l l l nunnuunnnnununun l uuu-uuuu hmw Sept. 28, 1937. s. B. HENDRlcKs ET AL 2,094,572

f MANURE SPREADER Filed July 8, 1955 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVENTO'RS /MEo/vB. HENDR/cfrs BY ./oH/v /7 MARKEL MM a/M( ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 28,1937 orFicE MANURE SPREADER Simeon B. Hendricks and John M. Markel,Rockford, Ill., assignors to J. li. Case Company, Racine, Wis., acorporation Application July 8, 1935,Y Serial No. 30,320

y5 Claims.

'Manurelspreadera or distributors, as commonly built, consist of anelongated box mountedy on `suitable rcarrying wheels, the box having abottom, anA inclined forward end, two sides and an 5 open rear end atwhich the beaters and distributor are located. The sides of said box areplaced somewhat closer together at the front end than at the rear so asto provide a draft for the material which is lcaused to be movedrearwardly by a continuous conveyor placed uponl the bottom of the boxand which is operate-d through an"intermittent drive mechanism vactuatedby Vthe rear wheels. Afs the spreader is drawn over a iield the materialis moved to the beaters which l separate or disintegrate the fertilizer,feeding it 'rearwardly to the distributor by which it is thrownlaterally so as to cover a considerable surfacefbehind the movingvehicle, all in a manner well known. The beaterV and spreader mechanismis usuallyfdriven through a chain system byfa large 'sprocket associateddirectly with one of the rear carrying wheels and placed on one sidel ofthe box with its individual control lever, Y

of theconveyor, Vthe result"v being that the material. continuestormove'rearwardly into the inactive beaters and is piled lagainstthemwith such force that the entire mechanism becomes choked and partsare stressed beyondV the pointv at which streQthe ,parts topperativecondition the operaltormustf` remove'the Ymaterial from the beatermechanismcausing undue and expensive delay. A ,Aspreviously mentioned,it is customary to have the forward end 'of the `box slightlynarrower'vthan'thenrear end to allow unrestricted ,passage'for thematerial. This arrangement produces an Vappreciable space between thecuter v'edge of the conveyor chains and the innerl sides ofthe"box,"especially at lthe rear half of the box, permitting a definiteamount of material to remain in such spaces out" of the influence of the"cnveyorlchaim The principal objects of lour present invention are toprovide means for preventing'actua'tion of the conveyor withoutirst,orsimultaneously, causing the beater and; spread- .theywere designed tooperate. In order to re- Y er mechanism to be operable; to provide meansfor preventing material from lodging on lthe bottom of the box betweenthe conveyor chains andA sides of the box; and to provide an all steelvehicle of satisfactory weight. These stated ob- 5 jects, and otherswhich will incidentally appear in the following description areillustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a plan view of a manure spreader embodying out improvements;

Fig. 2, a left-hand side elevation;

Fig. 3, a sectional view taken on dotted lines 3-3 in Fig. 2; and

Fig. fl, an enlarged detail of the driving mechanism for the materialconveyor, taken on dotted lines ffl-e in Fig. l.

In the drawings the numeral I0 indicates the front wheels and II, I2,the rear wheels of 'a manure spreader having suitable axle mountings forcarrying the material box comprising an 0 end gate I3, sides Irland I5,and a bottom I6 upon or about which is mounted an endless conveyor Il,driven bysprockets I8 fastened to a shaft i9 sup-ported in bearings 20as shown in Fig. 2. The shaft I9 is rotated intermittently by a pawll'325 2i and ratchet-wheel 22, Fig. y4, actuated by cam rollers 23carried by a rotary driver 23' of well known construction and operationand associated directly with the rearwheel I2. A quantity control arm2li extends upwardly from the pawl andfO cam shoe 2d of the characterdisclosed in the Davis Patent No. 1,2'l9,087, vsaid arm having a controlrod attached, as at 25, the said rod extending iorwardly to the usuallever and quadrant 27,' as indicated in Fig. l. As indicated, the T35ratchet wheel 22 is fixed to the' rear conveyor shaft I9, and the pawldevice 2|^-24 is adapted to be operated from the Wheel I2lfor rotating"the ratchet wheel at the desiredspeed, and by adjusting .said devicetheconveyor H maybe 40 `operated at various speeds to deliverffertilizerv more or` less rapidly to the revolving beater l28 to obtainvvarieddistribution of the material.

The cam-shoe 24', as explained in fsaid'patent referred to, isintermittently actuated by the rollers 23 of the rotating driver 23',andr has pivotally connected to its lower end, at 25', a pendant t5 theupper end of which is pivotally secured, at 66, to a bracket 61 attachedto the side I5 of the spreader. By this construction the cam-shoe willnormally gravitate into-the path ci the rollers 23, so that unlessrestricted the face of the shoe will abut the roller disposed oppositeit. The cam-shoe 24.', Fig. 4, is adjustably held in the path of rollers23 by the arm 241.55

fixedly secured, at 59, to said shoe, and equipped with a stop 10 whichintermittently rests on theV the shoe is cause-d to be moved toward therollers 23, and therefore, as the driver 23 is rotated, carrying thesaid roller against the'face'of the shoe, said shoe and pawlv 2|,together with the lower ends of arm 24 and pendant 65, will be urgedrearwardly and upwardly due to the 11pper end of pendant 65 beingpivotally mounted at 66. After the roller hasrpassed beyond the lface ofthe shoe the entire mechanism described will automatically resume itsprevious relation in position to be actuated by the following roller,there'being in the case illustrated, four completef cycles, or strokes,for each revolution of the roller driver 23. Fig. 2, as stated, is anelevvation of the left-hand side of the vehicle, the Ytwo near wheelsbeing omitted. In the illusvtrated arrangement the upper and lowerbeaters, 23, 29, respectively, and the distributor 30, are driven fromthe main sprocket wheel 3|, which ;isfattached to rear wheel II, througha chain 32 trained about a sprocket upon each of the beater lshafts 28and 29. The chain 32 is arranged so that its lower run engages the drivesprocket 3|,V

the front bight being trained about an idler sprocket33 carried on theend of an VarmV 34 fulcrumed upon the sideY i4 of the box, as shownat35. A vertical arm 36 is attached to or formed integrally with the arm34, and a trunnion 31 is mounted at its upper end in which a rod 38 is YVfreely mounted and extends forwardly therefrom to a control lever 39supported on side I4 in any v approved mannen In carrying out ourpresent invention we attach a rearwardlyV extending rod 49 to Verticalarm 36, at 4|, the rear end of said rod 'being atjtached to the lowerend 42 of a bell-crank 43 f ulcrumed at 44 upon the box Vside I4, therear Yend of said bell crank being secured to a rod 45,

Vend-of which rod is attached to an arm 50 pivotally mounted, at .5|,upon side I5 of the box and extending forwardly, said arm havinga.springa53 attached -at the end, as at 52, whileV Ythe opposite endterminates in a rod 54 asso- ,orily., The control lever 39 is set in theoperating position as shown by the fullY lines in Fig. 2, whereupon theidler sprocket 33 is in position to lciated withthe pawl 2| for apurpose to be described. n f

In operation, the box is filled with the desired material, a suitableprimary mover is attached to the draw-bar, and when it is desired tobegin broadcasting, the material, the lever 21 isV Vadjusted to thedesired quantity which is to be used `per acre, as is common, and whenso adjusteditpisv but necessary toV operate lever 39 cause the drivechain 32 to engage the upper portion of the main drive sprocket, andsimultaneo-usly the rod causes Ybell crank 43 to assume the positionshown, causing the rear end to rise, relieving Vtension on the crosschain 48, thereby causing arm 59, Fig. 4, to assume the Y dottedlinerposition, and at the same time removing the pull on rod 54, whichwill permit spring 2|' to urge the pawl'2l into engagement with Ytheratchet-wheel as shown. As the vehicle is moved over the field, the camdriver 23 will rotate with the rear wheel, I2, urging cam rollers 23into momentary contact with the cam shoe 24,', thus imparting areciprocating action to the pawl and the resultant intermittent rotarymotion to the ratchet wheel, which will actuate carrier I1 to move theVmaterial in the box rearwardly at a predetermined rate of speed asadjusted by lever 21 as mentioned. Simultaneously the rear wheel I'I isrotating drive sprocket 3| whichrimparts rotary motion to the beatersand distributor through chain 32.

When itisV desired to stop broadcasting the fertilizer the operatormoves lever 39 forwardly to the position indicated byVV dotted lines,which action causes the rod 38 to pull on arm 36, thereby raising idlersprocket 33, which elevates the lower run of chain 32 beyond theinfluence of the Vmain drive sprocket 3|, in which manner the beatersand associated mechanism become inoperative. As the said idler sprocket33 is being elevated, the arm 33 draws the rod 40 forwardly, causingbell-crank 43 to pivot-at 44 and lurging the rear end thereofdownwardly, thuspulling on the rod so as to lift the arm 50, Fig. 4,into the full line position, thus disengaging the pawl 2| from theratchet wheel through the spring and rod 53 and 54. As the vehiclecontinuesQits forward movement the pawl willhave no inuence upon theratchet wheel, nor will the main Vdrive sprocket 37|Y have any effectupon the beater mechanism, so that the entire spreader mechanismV isrendered inactive. It is obvious that Vit is impossible to cause thecarrier .to be operated by the pawl and ratchet drive when the beatersare inactive, due to the association betweenthe Vpawl 2| and bell-crank43 through the cross-over chain 48. l i Y Securely fastened to thebell-crank 43 orintegrally formed therewith. is an outwardlyprotrudingstud Ylocated so as to be under the lower side of chain 32 asshowninFig. 2. When the chain is in the operative position (engaged withthe sprocket- 3|) ,the stud 60 has no influence upon said chain, butwhen the idler sprocket V33 and the bell-'crank are caused to be intheposition indicated by dotted lines the stud' will prevent the lowerside-ofV thechain 32 from coming into momentary contact Ywith the maindrive sprocket 3|V when the'vehiclefis drawn over a rough or irregularsurface., .v .Y Upon the under side of the'inclinedrbox, end I3', wevprefer to fasten two L-shaped supports, 6I and 62, the upper verticalsides of .which converge toward the center, as shown in Fig.` 3, so asto provide a frictional entrance-for theseat support B3 which ispivotally mounted onthe vertical sides at 64, Fig. 2.V When'loading thebox the support V63 and its'seat mayzbe pulled Y of the receptacle foractuating the distributing means, a conveyor in the receptacle, aratchet on the opposite sideof the receptacle associated with theconveyor, a pawl pivotally mounted on the receptacle and engageable withthe ratchet, means operable by the vehicle Wheel to intermittentlyactuate the pawl to engage and'disengage from the ratchet, and tensionmeans extending across the vehicle and connecting vthe pawl and theactuating means for the distributing means to release the pawl from theratchet when said actuating means is rendered inoperable.

2. In a vehicle of the character described including an endlessconveyor, rotary distributing means having sprockets thereon andan axlehaving driving wheels at its opposite sides, a driving sprocket on oneof the wheels, a sprocket-.and-chain system associated with thedistributing means and engageable with the driving sprocket, means forengaging and disengaging the chain from said driving sprocket, abellcrank lever including means for preventing the chain from engagingsaid sprocket, a ratchet on the opposite side of the vehicle, a pawlengageable with the ratchet, ilexible means connecting the lever andpawl, means on the opposite wheel for actuating the pawl tointermittently rotate the ratchet for moving the conveyor, and meansunder control of an operator for disengaging the chain from the drivingsprocket and also for adjusting the lever to disengage the pawl from theratchet to simultaneously discontinue operation of the distributingmeans and the conveyor.

3. In a vehicle of the character described including a conveyor androtary distributing means, a sprocket-and-chain system for actuating thedistributing means, a wheel-driven sprocket engageable with the chainfor actuating the latter, means for engaging and disengaging the chainfrom the driven sprocket, a bell-crank lever on the vehicle, meansconnecting the lever with the engaging and disengaging means, a ratcheton the opposite side of the vehicle, a pawl engageable with the ratchet,a shoe associated with the pawl, means connecting the lever with thepawl to engage the latter with the ratchet, means for simultaneouslyengaging the chain and driven sprocket and also adjusting the pawlconnecting means to engage the pawl with the ratchet as the vehicle istraveling site wheel for intermittently engaging the pawl and ratchetfor moving the conveyor.

4. In a vehicle of the character described including an endlessconveyor, rotary distributing means'having sprockets thereon and an axlehaving driving wheels at its opposite sides, a swinging member having asprocket thereon, a chain running about the sprockets for actuating thedistributing means, a conveyor controlling bell-crank lever on thevehicle, a rod connecting the swinging member to the lever,ratchet-andpawl mechanism on the opposite side of the vehicle, avertically swinging arm adjacent said mechanism and pivotally mounted onthe vehicle, a tension-rod connecting said arm to the pawl, verticallymovable means supporting the arm, flexible means connecting the movablemeans to said lever, a shoe associated with the pawl, a cam-rollerassociated with one of the wheels for actuating the pawl to rotate theratchet intermittently for moving the endless conveyor, and meansVassociated with the swinging arm for adjusting the latter and thevertically movable means connected to the lever to engage said chainwith the driving sprocket and through the exible connection between thelever and pawl to operatively engage the latter with the ratchet wherebythe distributing means and conveyor are simultaneously actuated.

5. In a vehicle of the character described a wheeled receptacle,distributing means carried by the vehicle for scattering materialdischarging from the receptacle, means driven from a wheel of thevehicle for actuating the distributing means, control means for throwingthe actuating means in and out of action, a conveyor in the receptaclearranged to urge material in the receptacle toward the distributingmeans, a ratchet supported from the receptacle and connected to operatethe conveyor, a pawl movably mounted on the receptacle and positioned toride on the ratchet and actuate the same, means operable by a vehiclewheel for reciprocating the pawl for actuating the ratchet, and tensionmeans extending from the control means to the pawl to remove the pawlfrom contact with the

